Reap What You Sow
by ForlornAlicorn
Summary: Out of all the members of Team Satisfaction, Claire is the most unmotivated. While her friends are off pursuing their dreams (or each other), she's walking along ruined streets out of boredom. But when she finds an odd card on the ground, her self imposed lazy streak quickly ends...
1. Chapter 1: To Pee, or Not To Pee

**Warning:** This story contains an abundance of cussing, courtesy of my MC. She's also very, very blunt (ie, she will not mince her words). There will also be violent altercations and some serious bloodshed in the future (though that is somewhat few and far between).

Characters also can and will be OC. I'm not super interested in following their personalities to the letter, but I will try to make them at least comparable to their canon selves.

Some advice when reading Claire's dialogue- her default tone is sarcastic/disinterested. Might help you grasp her character a little better.

* * *

 _"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything."_ _-Albert Einstein_

* * *

Chapter 1:To Pee, or Not To Pee

Satellite was a wreck. A boring, dreary, polluted wreck. Claire could certainly understand why someone would want to leave.

Didn't mean they got to be an asshole while doing it.

"Yusei, I appreciate the offer… but I'm fine where I am. Your feud with Jack isn't really my business, beyond the fact that he's a big dick and everyone knows it."

Yusei blinked at her, surprised, but nodded. "If you're sure. Just thought I'd ask." Considering her background, he thought she'd be thrilled at the opportunity… then again, she'd had the chance to escape before, and nothing had come of that, either. Yusei turned to walk away, knowing that the conversation was pretty much over.

"Oi, nerd. Good luck."

Yusei's tiny, fond smile was hidden from Claire's view as he waved in acknowledgement, and departed. In two days, he'd make the break for the city, with the chip Rally had (stolen) acquired.

Meanwhile, Claire knew she would be relaxing in her dilapidated house.

It wasn't that she didn't want to leave Satellite, necessarily; no, it was more that she didn't care enough to go through all the effort it would take to reach Neo Domino. Dodging Security was just… so much _work_.

Claire shut her front door, yawning and collapsing on a bedraggled couch that also served as her bed. She usually preferred to sleep in, but _someone_ had ruined _that_ …

...she really did hope that he would succeed, though. Jack could use a good foot shoved up his ass, right along with the stick that was probably already there.

Claire snickered. As much as she'd like to see that happen, she had a nice little cozy wreck of a place to call home, and she supposed that Satellite had grown on her. Juuuuust a little. At least, enough that she lacked the proper motivation to sit her butt down on her motorcycle (the name "D-wheel" just seemed stupid to her), and drive off into a garbage chute that would _hopefully_ stay open long enough for her to not get buried in trash.

Nah. Better to be lazy and un-buried.

With that thought in mind, Claire rolled off her couch and walked to the "kitchen". Her home was the bottom floor of what had likely been a two-story office building. In the disaster, the top floor had fallen to pieces, with rubble stacked along the sides of the building and the top, where the second story's floor formed an adequate (it only leaked sometimes) roof. The windows, long since shattered, were covered in plywood, and the back door was jammed shut. The front door worked, though sometimes the hinges stuck, which was one of the few excuses Claire had to see Yusei.

The first floor was of decent size- enough room for the couch, a table with chairs, a stove that Yusei had jury-rigged, a pantry box, and other bits and pieces. It probably wasn't much, but you live in a place for four years and you get used to the squalor…

It was only after breakfast, and a few choice cuss words at a spider that had invaded her home, that Claire walked outside to get some fresh air.

...Well. Fresh by comparison.

There were a few people outside. Most of them had the thug-life look, and were rooting through whatever piles of crap they hadn't already sifted through. A fairly common sight. Claire didn't pay much mind to them, instead weighing her options.

The most common dilemma she had this time of day was choosing where to do her business. There _was_ a communal bathroom, but there were always a bunch of creepy guys hanging around, and she really didn't feel like taking her pants off so they could oggle her ass.

Her other option was finding a secluded alleyway or something and going _there_ , but the last time she did that… well. Claire needed to keep _some_ of her dignity.

She sighed. She'd go in the sound, except people bathed there, and it was kind of taboo to take a dump in there… for, obvious reasons. Man, if Claire had a dollar for every time she wished she just had a dick to pee with...

Damn. Creepy assholes it was.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Hours later, as the sun was just beginning to set, Claire was still wandering around Satellite, bored out of her mind. Beyond searching for supplies and gang wars, there really wasn't much to _do_ in Satellite. Albeit the first took up a good amount of time, and the latter was often inconvenient enough to take up some portion of the day… you really needed a hobby besides eating and dueling.

Claire _used_ to have hobbies, except Satellite has an impressive lack of internet and computers and video games, or even books. So there goes _that_.

Many of Satellite's denizens worked in the recycling plant, but Claire didn't feel like doing the dirty work (literally) for a government body that didn't give a shit about its citizens. So instead she beat the shit out of assholes with big scary monsters and took their stuff.

Because, y'know. For some reason in Japan, and especially Neo Domino, a children's card game is the key to the universe. _Whatever works_ , Claire supposed. _It could be checkers._

Claire's lazily wandering eyes spotted a… card, just lying on the ground. That was… _weird_. Duel monster cards were worth their weight in gold and then some (especially in Satellite), and… someone just left it lying on the ground? She walked over, and noticed blood spots.

 _Oh. Wonderful. Somebody got stabbed over this, apparently._ Claire sighed, picked it up, and turned it over.

"The Seal of Orichalcos… Grants 500 ATK to monsters on your side of the field regardless of type? Where the hell has this been all my life?" Claire blinked. Fuck, she could see why someone was stabbed over _this_ baby.

Claire could help but smirk as she pocketed the card and walked back to her home. It seemed like today was a lucky day.

She couldn't wait to try it out tomorrow.

* * *

Somebody please tell Claire that she ought not pick up things that have obviously been the cause of bloodshed. Well, she probably wouldn't listen anyways. But it's just good advice.

A somewhat short chapter, but I'm more or less testing the waters with where and how I want this story to go. The next will more than likely be longer.

Thanks for reading, review if you can!


	2. Chapter 2: Come Hell or Giant Monsters

Here's the next installment. And the first duel. Wheeeee...

A note: I determine the layout of decks in a duel by using a word randomizer. It basically throws all the cards in a random order, and the first five make up the starting hand. And things develop from there. So, no duel really has a pre-determined result. And this one was surprisingly one-sided.

Anyways- I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2: Come Hell or Giant Monsters

Claire woke the next morning, bright and early (to her chagrin), to someone pounding on her door. Immediately deciding that someone was about to get the boot off her doorstep, Claire tossed the blanket off of her, rolled off the couch and stalked to the front door. _This better damn well have a good fucking reason…_

She wrenched the door open, glaring at the one who _dared_ wake her before noon. She'd expect Yusei, or Rally, or even Crow (on the rare event that he dropped by after raiding Security), but instead, it was some guy in fancy cyan robes. They clashed _awfully_ with his orange hair.

"Look fuckface, I don't know what your deal is, but you talk to anyone on this street and they will tell you _do_ _ **not**_ _wake me up_. **Ever**. Mind explaining your death wish?"

He just stared impassively at her, unfazed by the death glare that had, in the past, made a gang leader (who had foolishly tried to raid Team Satisfaction's base before midday) high-tail it. Crow might be called The Bullet, and Kiryu might have been endowed with the name Enforcer, but Claire was nicknamed Cataclysm for a reason.

...Well. She _supposed_ the main reason was her deck, but she still had a damn good death glare.

"We know you have it. Hand the card over."

If Claire was mad before? Now she was _incensed_. Trying to reign it in, she took a deep breath. "You really have some balls, don't you?"

God, there was a _reason_ she took advantage of Team Satisfaction's rep more than the others. She didn't want to _deal_ with idiots like this guy! Let Jack or Yusei try and defend their "honor" or whatever, she just wanted to fucking sleep!

"Hand over the card, or else."

"You might want to specify _which fucking card_."

"The Seal of Orichalcos."

"..." Claire paused. Was it worth it?

Man, fuck worth. This asshole woke her up and didn't even say sorry, or please. _Fuck_ this guy.

"Nope. Finders keepers. Also, dibs. Now fuck off." Claire slammed the door shut in the idiot's face, and stalked back to her couch. Time for some good ol' R&R to make up for the rude-

 **CRAAA-RRK!**

Claire froze, and slowly turned, to feel a cold breeze on her face. The front of her house had been _ripped off_.

What the _fuck_ was this guy's problem?!

More than that, _how_? The only other thing he had was his duel disk and… oh no.

The psychic's Light End Dragon loomed above the wreckage of her wall, still crushing it to bits under its weight.

 _Nnnnnnnnnope_.

Claire grabbed her duel disk from the coffee table and high tailed it before the dragon could loose an attack. Like hell she was waiting around for it.

It turned out, she didn't have to- the attack came to her.

The street quickly cleared out as Claire slammed into the ground, borderline screeching at the pain of being hit with what basically amounted to a laser. It took her a good minute to sit up, and by then the psychic had closed the distance, his dragon guarding his back.

Claire hissed in pain as she stood up, furious from pain and shock and _fear_. This guy…

"Fine then, jackass. You want the card? Duel me for it." She activated her duel disk, one of the old models, as opposed to the psychic's newer version. The psychic, silently accepting her challenge, slotted his deck into his disk, seconds after Claire. Thankfully, he removed his dragon from the disk, and it vanished.

God, it hurt to stand, or move, or do _anything_ , let alone duel. And as it was, she was bound to take more damage…

"Duel!"

Psychic LP: 4000

Claire LP: 4000

Claire waved to the psychic, letting him take first turn. He nodded and drew, adding another card to his hand of five.

"I summon Mirage Dragon, in attack mode." The ugly trap-negating dragon writhed into existence.

Mirage Dragon: 1600 ATK

"I activate the field spell The Fountain in the Sky and end my turn." A glowing fountain flashed into existence above the psychic's head, suspended in space.

"'Kay. Draw! I activate the spell card Terraforming!" Oh, it brought Claire no greater joy than to fuck someone else's field spell over with her own. "I use it to retrieve the field spell Kyoutou Waterfront from my deck." She tossed Terraforming into the graveyard. "And now, I play Kyoutou Waterfront!" The fountain vanished, instead being replaced by a massive blue and gold tower, overlooking a waterfront resembling Satellite's sound, but a hell of a lot closer to their location.

"Now, I activate the effect of Dogoran, the Mad Flame Kaiju in my hand! I can tribute your Mirage Dragon to summon it on your side of the field!"

Mirage Dragon was quickly crushed by a massive, flaming dragon-like monster. Nearby, a building sprouted into existence from nothing.

Dogoran: 3000 ATK

Kyoutou Waterfront: 1 Counter

"And the purpose of that was?..." The psychic seemed understandably un-impressed by the powerful monster I had given _him_.

"This. I activate the effect of Jizukiru, the Star Destroying Kaiju in my hand! If you have a Kaiju monster on your side of the field, I can special summon him from my hand!" Claire placed the monster card on her duel disk, and massive, robot-like… _creature_ appeared (in all her years, the best comparison Claire could come up with was a flying snake).

Jizukiru: 3300 ATK

"Attack! Neutron Collapse!" Jizukiru slithered to Dogoran, slamming both of its "wings" end-first into Dogoran and unleashing a devastating pulse that shattered the flaming monster. Another building came into existence.

Psychic LP: 3700

Kyoutou Waterfront: 2 Counters

The psychic was completely unfazed, not that Claire cared.

"I set a card and end my turn."

"Draw. I activate the spell Double Summon! I use it's effect to summon Element Dragon and Delta Flyer! I activate Delta Flyer's effect to raise Element Dragon's level by 1, and tune them together! Light of Heaven, smite the unworthy! Synchro Summon! Glow brightly, Light End Dragon!"

"Oh, not _this_ fucker again." Claire sighed. She took solace in the fact that now there were another three buildings framing their battlefield.

Light End Dragon: 2600 ATK

Kyoutou Waterfront: 6 Counters

The psychic's winged dragon screeched at Jizukiru, who hissed in return, writhing impatiently for their battle to begin.

"I activate Light End Dragon's effect! His attack and defense are reduced by 500, but your monster's attack is reduced by 1500!"

 _Oh, for the love of shit…_ Claire watched sullenly as Jizukiru shrunk to be smaller than Light End Dragon… when, before, Jizukiru was nearly twice its size.

Light End Dragon: 2100 ATK

Jizukiru: 1800 ATK

"Attack! Piercing Ray!"

"Nope! I activate Magic Cylinder, which redirects your dragon's attack back to you!" The ray of light that would have otherwise destroyed Jizukiru was instead contained and reflected by a purple cylinder interlaced with intricate designs. Another building sprouted.

Psychic LP: 1600

Kyoutou Waterfront: 7 Counters

The psychic staggered to his feet, his clothing now just as ruined as Claire's. She felt a spiteful satisfaction.

"I… activate Book of Moon on Light End Dragon!"

"Oh no you don't- I activate Jizukiru's effect! When a card is activated that targets exactly one card on the field, I can remove 3 Kaiju counters from Kyoutou Waterfront to negate the effect and destroy one card on the field! Fuck your dragon!" Jizukiru screeched and went on a rampage, smashing three of the seven buildings, and Light End Dragon in the process. His attack was still reduced, but it hardly mattered… And her field spell still had plenty of counters, thanks to Book of Moon and Light End Dragon hitting the graveyard.

Kyoutou Waterfront: 6 Counters

"You done?" The psychic didn't answer.

"That's what I thought. Jizukiru, end it!"

Psychic LP: 0

The orange head scowled. "I won't fail. Light End Dragon, blast her!" The giant white dragon rose again, and Claire cursed. Looks like this psychic didn't care too much about duelist's honor. Then again, neither did she.

Claire usually tried to avoid resorting to violence, just because it was a pain in the ass, but this fuck was _asking_ for it!

Claire rolled out of the way of the beam of light and grabbed her hunting knife, hurling it at the psychic. _Please let my aim be good, please…_

The knife smacked the psychic in the head hilt-first, stunning him, and Claire rushed over. Apparently his dragon lacked much autonomy, because it just froze in place. Claire took advantage of the lapse, and after closing the distance she kicked the psychic in the temple. He went out, and the dragon vanished.

Claire grinned in victory and retrieved her knife. A family heirloom from before Satellite, it continued to serve her well. It was the work of a moment to relieve the psychic of his cards and duel disk. She didn't intend on keeping them- well, maybe she'd keep his Light End Dragon, but the rest she could sell for quite a lot.

Claire left the psychic to scavengers or whoever happened upon him. And returned to her ruined house. She knew, even before reaching it, that it wasn't salvageable. Part of the roof had caved in since, and rebuilding a wall wasn't exactly easy. Claire sighed.

Looks like she'd be accompanying Yusei after all.


	3. Chapter 3: No Rest

Another update from the land of me. Motivation is hard. Anyways, characterization and shoving the plot along.

* * *

Chapter 3: No Rest

Claire could not, for the life of her, stop being… _angry_. There was being an asshole, and then there was ruining her house, giving her at least 2nd degree burns and then… well. There was probably something else, but she couldn't quite think of it. Mainly because of said 2nd degree burns. _Fuck_ , and she thought the back aches she often suffered were unbearable. A lifetime of bad posture could not compare.

Having a burnt-ass back did not help with transporting belongings. At all. As it was, Claire could fit most of her possessions in a single backpack, but carrying anything seemed way more trouble than it was worth.

Luuuckily, Claire's stolen duel runner still… well, ran. _Did the creator of these glorified motorcycles intend that as a pun?_

Claire sighed as she tied the stuffed-full backpack to her runner, still decked out in Security symbols, but thankfully devoid of their trackers (thank gods for stoic mechanics that liked helping people). To her, there was really no point in decking out something that she hardly ever used, and that especially wouldn't be used for its second primary function: dueling. Riding duels were a whole lot of bullshit Claire wasn't willing to tolerate. And they said _guns_ were dangerous where she lived… Claire scoffed.

If these fucks were willing to let people play overly complex children's card games on vehicles traveling well over any speed limit, then Claire would bet that your average firearm wasn't a super big deal.

Pointless and off-tangent mental grumblings aside, it took Claire a good five minutes to even figure out how to turn the infernal contraption on, and it was only thanks to a childhood of riding the common bicycle that Claire could keep her balance doing a cool 20 mph to Yusei's house. She got some weird looks, but that was pretty much expected.

Even at such a (comparatively) low speed, it only took a few minutes to reach the subway tunnel Yusei and his "friends" lived in. Claire would bet her new synchro monster on him not giving too many fucks about them. At the end of the day, they were just using him for protection and- dare she say- hope. She supposed it was an easy mistake, but it still pissed her off. Rally was the only one that actually tried to contribute, though after Jack pulled the biggest dick move since Claire was conceived, Rally was… a bit less trusting. To put it mildly.

The kid was actually kind of brave. Took balls to steal, bigger balls to do it for someone else. Non-binary Rally might be, but in Claire's eyes he had _quite_ the kahunas. So to speak.

And, as much as Claire held contempt for Tank, Nerve and Blitz, so too, did they wipe their asses with her name. Nerve, the current watchdog for the motley crew (ah, such fond memories of 80's rock with that phrase), probably would've refused her entry if she had bothered to ask. Instead, Claire just drove right past him.

Because fuck you, that's why.

Everyone else down below was a little on edge when she arrived- probably because she was riding a bike in Security colors, and Security was really the only other group with duel runners in the first place- but relaxed when they noticed who she was. It was probably fortunate she didn't have, and didn't care to wear a helmet.

"What are _you_ doing here? I thought you turned Yusei down." Blitz frowned. Claire imagined that he was a bit put out that he wasn't invited along, despite the fact that he didn't have a runner to nyoom along on.

"I reconsidered. Also, my house was trashed by an asshat and I don't really have a choice? So there's that."

Nerve, who had followed in Claire's wake, scoffed. "Figures. The only thing that motivates you is-"

"Pride, hatred, boredom, a mischievous streak, and a desire to continue my self-imposed lazy streak? Nailed it in one, bucko." Claire grinned, showing slightly-yellowed teeth that Nerve made a face at. Satellite was not known for its dental care services.

Rally was notably hanging back, watching over Yusei- who was _still_ working on the runner, apparently. _Jesus, you'd think it'd be ready by now, considering he's leaving like… what, tomorrow?_

"Aren't you fucking done yet?" Claire raised a brow at the kneeling mechanic, who didn't even glance up to respond. Rally, uncomfortable with the sudden awkward silence, spoke up. "I, uh, found-"

" _Stole_ ," Nerve corrected.

"Uh, well, a chip to help with the runner!"

"And you lured Security here with it!" Nerve snapped. "What were you thinking?!" Rally flinched.

Claire stepped off the runner. "Shut the fuck up, Ned, or whatever your name is. When was the last time you meaningfully contributed to the runner? Rally's loot sure outshines your crap."

" _Enough_." All heads turned to Yusei, who was giving everyone The Look. "This isn't accomplishing anything. Nerve, can you go back up to the entrance? Make sure we don't get another Lenny in here." Nerve reluctantly nodded, and ascended the stairs again. _Anything for our lord and saviour, Yusei_ , Claire mentally scoffed.

"Claire." Her attention snapped back to her friend. "Don't insult them. They've done a lot for this- they're the reason this is possible."

Claire bit back a retort. _You're_ _the reason this is possible. They're a bunch of lackeys that like to mooch._

Yusei, appeased by her silence, turned to Rally. "Could you go make sure Tank's alright? It's been awhile since he went to check on the tunnels further down." Rally nodded and scampered off. Blitz mumbled something about needing to be elsewhere, and it was just Claire and Yusei left.

Yusei took one last look at the Yusei Go before scooting to the edge of the platform and sitting, inviting Claire with a gesture. She sat down next to him.

"I'm only going to ask this once." Claire stared Yusei dead in the face, noting the subtle surprise in his expression. "Fucking change your duel runner's name. It sucks balls. Like, even the Yuseimobile would be better. Then you could say 'To the Yuseimobile!' and it would be kind of cool, but Yusei Go is a name no one will ever use or appreciate beyond the fact that it's a name. _Change that shit._ "

Yusei blinked, before smiling that little hidden, half-smile and shaking his head. "You always know how to remain off and on-topic at the same time."

"Yeah. So?"

"...I'll think about it." Claire sighed heavily. A noncommittal response like that meant absolutely jack (ah, pun), and they both knew it. Well, she'd tried.

"Do you even do anything else besides work on that thing?"

Yusei raised a brow. "Is there anything else to do?"

...Point. Claire could only shrug in response. "Surprised you haven't asked about my place getting trashed."

Yusei just looked at her, silently waiting. It only took a moment for Claire to crack, and she told him, with more than a few cuss words to emphasize her point.

Yusei was quiet for a moment. "Can I see the card? The Seal?" Claire shrugged. Jack might be a card stealer, but Yusei was not, and so she gave him a good 30 seconds to examine the card. He had a chance to read the description and give it a good once-over, but he had come up with little more than Claire had upon first seeing it. Sure, it was powerful, and had a bloody history from what Claire had seen, but there wasn't much out of the ordinary. It was a card.

Claire pocketed it again and they lapsed into silence. Comfortable, not awkward, and Claire could tell without even looking at him that Yusei was deep in thought.

"I have to wonder… how'd that guy even find me? Did he see me pick up the card? If so, shouldn't he have ambushed me then and there? Or did he need to take a pee break or something? Maybe he found a spot without perverts…" Claire mused.

"You're still having trouble about that? You know if you need someone-" Claire scowled and cut Yusei off.

"I'm _fine_ , Yusei. Save it. They can look, but all they're gonna see is a bunch of hair and an ass. If that's what they find attractive, they're not worth attention anyways."

"That's not what you said before."

" _Before_ was different. _I_ was different. You know better than to compare." Claire shrugged off Yusei's admonishing hand on her shoulder, and scooted a little away. "Just… don't. We've all said what needs to be said."

Yusei just stared for a moment, before standing and going back to the runner. Claire watched him return to his shittily-named machine with a frown. It was unfortunate that, nowadays, times where Yusei wasn't tinkering with something were few and far in-between.

Though, it was probably just as well. His scrutiny was one of the most intimidating things Claire had had the chance to witness. If she could distract him with shiny machine parts, she would. Hell, he'd somehow not mentioned the burn marks on her back even though she probably reeked of burning things and had told him about it. Apparently he was losing his mother hen edge.

"Well, I'm gonna head to the market. Got some cards to sell. Need anything while I'm there, Yusei?"

It took a moment for him to respond. "Not really."

"Kay. Be back in an hour or three." Claire stood up and walked to the exit. Riding a Security runner into the market square was bound to get her murdered, reputation or no.

 **o-o-o-o-o-o**

It didn't take too long to sell off the psychic's deck (save for his ace, of course). Cards were a rare and highly sought commodity, and Claire found herself with a decent chunk of change by the end of her visit. She was tempted to browse herself, but considering that she'd probably be flying by the seat of her pants in unfamiliar territory soon… best to hoard resources.

As it was, Claire was pretty sure she'd have a bad time even getting to the city. Sure, her bike was probably capable of decent speed, but with both her injuries and inexperience… maybe riding through the tunnels a time or three would be necessary. Nerve'd probably give her shit about it, but whatever. She had bigger concerns than his uninformed opinion.

When Claire got back, she experienced a moment of generosity. She'd never use the card herself, and she knew Rally had some Light-attribute monsters…

"Hey, Rally. Here's a thing." Claire pretty much shoved the card in Rally's face. He/They blinked in surprise and took the card, eyes widening when they got a good look at it.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. My only use is to sell it, and I don't want to, so have fun with it." The others clustered around Rally to get a good look at it, with Yusei sending her a meaningful look that Claire avoided thinking about.

"Anyways, I'm going to ride through the tunnels for a bit." Claire boarded her runner and sped off into the darkness, ignoring Yusei's call of her name. If it was really important, he'd drive after her. But for now… she just wanted to be alone.

* * *

No idea when I'll update again. Next chapter will include trash tunnels and arrogant dickheads, though. Claire is far more affected by things than she's willing to let on. Yusei knows, but knowing what's wrong and knowing what to do about it are two different things. Also, he's preoccupied with thoughts of said arrogant dickhead.


	4. Chapter 4: Melodrama

**A/N:** Sorry about the wait, all of those who have enjoyed thus far. I recently got a better job, both in pay and in treatment, and now I have that glorious thing known as free time. And a little bit of inspiration. And two kittens!

So, here you go!

* * *

Chapter 4: Melodrama

There's nothing quite like waking up in the morning to the realization that, once again, your underwear is soaked in blood.

Satellite, at the best of times, still lacks so many basic necessities that it simply boggles the mind. What _do_ you do when you lack hygiene products? Apparently the world is run by ignorant men that don't register my _extreme_ need for pads and pills.

 _Cramps, folks. Blood. Dead tissue. It's gross, so for fuck's sake, can we at least get something to deal with it?_ Claire sighed.

 _If I get to Neo Domino alive, I'm fucking raiding the nearest Wal-Mart and hoarding. I will become a dragon, and sleep atop a mound of absorbent cotton and ibuprofen. Probably nab a few pillows while I'm at it._

Anyone who's woken up thinking, "Well shit, that pair of underwear is fucked" knows the pain Claire endured that morning. The scraps of cloth and fabric she scavenged could only do so much.

Of course, the day of the Great Escape, and Claire got to start it off bleeding. And Yusei, in blissful ignorance, 'borrowed' some of her rags to use on oil and grease. On the bright side, chances were relatively high that she could get some actual pads soon.

So, Claire let Yusei off with just an entirely-justified whack to the back of the head. His baffled expression almost made the unintentional theft worth it.

"What was _that_ for?"

"You commandeered my PMS rags."

He took one look at the rag in his hands and let it flop to the floor. I snickered.

"Maybe you should keep your disgusting habits of hoarding bloody rags somewhere else," Nerve walked in, just in time to receive a rag to the face. He tore it off and threw it to the ground with the most disgusted expression.

Claire couldn't help but smirk. _I have good aim, huh?_

"Guys, please. It's too early." Yusei glanced at his laptop just as Claire did. Nerve only took a moment longer.

"Yusei, it's past noon." Nerve pointed out. The conversation apparently woke Tank, because he peered out of his little tent-room at all of us.

"Yeah, exactly." Claire grinned. "For us night owls, it's too fucking early for your bullshit."

Yusei, knowing there was no stopping the oncoming storm, began to blast Guns and Roses to drown out the bickering. Tank wisely receded into his living quarters.

 **-One Hour Later-**

Claire looked through her deck, frowning. As powerful as the Seal was, the major drawback of destroying Special Summoned monsters really sucked. Plus, Kyoutou Waterfront was _kind_ of a big deal for her main strategy.

Eh. Maybe she'd give it a whirl once or twice, just for the hell of it. Considering what she had lost already from the card, there was no way she'd just get rid of it.

Stacking her deck back together and slipping it into a worn leather holster, Claire stood and looked around. Everyone else was in the main room getting ready for tonight's blaze of glory. After Yusei very clearly expressed his irritation with them, she had sequestered herself in one of the little nooks of the subway hideout. She was sorry for bothering him, but insulting... Ned? Nerd? Whatsisface? Usually enough entertainment to keep her going for a bit. Blitz was less fun, just because after a while he would go silent and ignore her, and Tank didn't have thick enough skin. He was left alone unless _he_ started it.

Rally was the only one she could stand, although the relative innocence (amazing really, when you consider the time in prison and Jack's outright betrayal) made casual conversation somewhat trying. Claire had a feeling Rally, out of all of them, was probably the one with the most heart. Yusei's was buried, hers was rotten, Crow's belonged to a bunch of orphans, Jack's was AWOL, and the other guys probably sold their's for rations.

She didn't want to think about what happened to Kiryu's.

"Hey Claire," Blitz's unwelcome voice filtered in through the not-quite-solid walls. "Yusei wants you."

"Fine." Like hell she'd thank the cunt for the distraction, but it was still welcome. When Claire emerged, Yusei beckoned her with a jerk of his head, hair spikes wagging. Claire grinned the grin of any mischievous being and began to play with the spikes the moment she was close. Somehow her longtime friend ignored her. The others looked at her like she'd grown a fifth limb, save for Rally, who was barely holding back a similar grin.

"So, this is the map of the pipeline. Fairly straightforward."

"..." Claire's grin widened at Yusei's slow realization of his unintentional pun, but once again he endeavored to ignore her.

"I know you aren't super comfortable on a runner still, how fast do you think you can go?"

Claire's grin abruptly dropped and she stared at her motorcycle silently. "...Um. How... fast do we need to go?"

Nerve and Blitz had to be having a chuckle at her expense, but Claire refused to turn around and give them any satisfaction. Yusei looked at her, both amused and exasperated. "Claire, can you at least go 60?"

"...Uh. Sure. Yeah. Totally."

Yusei sighed. Snickers were audible behind them- even Rally couldn't help but shake their head. Claire was so thankful that her cheeks didn't turn red when she was embarrassed. She would never live it down.

"Look, uh, Yusei-" Claire shot a glare back at the chucklefucks before turning back. "If it comes down to it, leave me behind. Don't waste your shot on my account. You know I'll be fine regardless."

Maybe it was a pointless plea, but Claire would be damned if Yusei lost his shot at revenge (the pettier the better) because she was afraid. She was always afraid, frankly.

"Don't be ridiculous. There will be other chances." Yusei turned back to the computer screen as Claire scowled at his back.

"Don't 'other chance' me Fudo, this is your fucking shot. If you're gonna waste it on my account, I'm not going."

Yusei didn't even look at her. "I'm not leaving you behind."

"You will if you have to, Yusei." Rally spoke up, to everyone's surprise. "We all know how much that runner... no, more than that, _Stardust Dragon_ means to you. If that's the price you gotta pay- leaving us behind- you'll pay it. And that's okay." Here, Rally reached into their sweater pocket and pulled out a card. "I know you won't waste your chance, after everything all of us have given for it to be possible. So, please, take this."

Yusei, shocked into silence, took one look at the card and his eyes widened. "Rally, this was your father's-"

"And now it's yours. Take it. Maybe Turbo Booster will... increase your odds." Rally's smile convinced Yusei more than the words, and he pocketed it with gratitude.

Claire wondered if she had ever been like Rally. Kind, generous, but not afraid to get dirty to get things done. Maybe once, but that was probably even before she had wound up in Satellite.

Plus, considering the kid had convinced Yusei to be selfish for once- that, in itself, was a miracle.

Rally deserved so much better than Satellite. So much better than almost drowning to Jack at 12 and serving prison time at 13 and waking up from nightmares of Jack trying to drown them or Yusei not making it in time or Security burning another marker in their face. Claire supposed she was lucky- she'd stopped having nightmares a long time ago. There just wasn't any point to it.

Touching moments like this hurt far more than any dream.

 **-8 Hours Later-**

It was time. Yusei looked like he was born for the task at hand, confidently striding to his runner and donning his helmet.

Claire? Claire was struggling to _appear_ any kind of confident.

"Ready?" Claire gave Yusei a look that said everything, and donned the spare helmet Yusei had lent her. She had spent enough time making sure she knew how to start the engine and turn on autopilot, that at least she didn't have to worry about getting started.

Yusei revved his engine and sped off, with Claire following close behind.

Satellite was quiet enough that their engines seemed to echo for miles. She was surprised that the streets were almost completely deserted. Even at night, usually there was somebody hanging around... but, it was just them tonight.

The massive fence that indicated the boundary of Security's domain was easily jumped for Yusei. Claire, on the other hand, was not Yusei and thus simply barreled it over.

"Really, Claire?" Yusei looked back briefly in exasperation, as alarms began to peal out. Claire didn't bother to shrug as they quickly navigated to the pipeline entrance. She felt more than heard or saw the Security bike come up from behind them. "Hey- wait a minute, you're not an officer!"

Claire barked a laugh. "Oh my god, Trudge! What a coincidence, huh?"

"Coincidence?! You- you stole a Security runner!"

"Uh, actually, it was somebody else, but I don't think that matters to you..." Claire sighed as Yusei was dragged into a riding duel.

"No, it doesn't! Either way, I'm taking you Satellite scum back to where you belong- the trash!" Trudge grinned predatorily, then paused. "Hey, wait, why isn't yours engaging!?"

Claire flipped the bird. "Because, I don't have a duel disk inserted into my motorcycle. I also don't have a riding duel deck, so... Yusei, mind if I clear the way?"

Yusei nodded. With a casual, two-fingered salute, Claire sped ahead. High on adrenaline and the joys of giving Security the finger, she forgot her fears and went _fast._

Neo Domino was her next stop. After that? Wal-Mart.

* * *

 **A/N:** Considering having Claire see Jack and engaging in some good ol' fashioned verbal warfare before proceeding to plunder Wal-Mart. Whaddya think?


End file.
